The Unicorn Child
by mecury
Summary: An abandoned child, raised by unicorns. seeing the world for the first time. A Marauder, prides in his adventures and clever pranks, dreading the day when he’d have to grow up. And then one day-“she looks so familiar…”not your typical LJ story.
1. Prologue: In the Forbidden Forest

THE UNICORN CHILD  
  
SUMMARY--An abandoned child, raised by unicorns. seeing the world for the first time. A Marauder, prides in his adventures and clever pranks, dragging the day when he'd have to grow up. And then one day--"she look so familiar..."not your typical L/J story.  
  
DISCLAIMER: not mine, not yours, JKR's.

* * *

Prologue—In the Forbidden Forest  
  
James felt dizzy, he tore blindly through the dark, through the unwelcoming branches in the forbidden forest. He was bleeding. Hard. Today was a full moon, and Remus was unusually violent. Must be something he ate, James thought bitterly. He always felt bad when he saw Remus transform into a werewolf once a month, just seeing the pain in his friend's eyes as he changed gave James the shudders.... 

* * *

James Potter was a tall, sixteen year-old wizard, with jet black hair, which was always messy no matter what he did with it, metal framed glasses and deep, hazel eyes that lit up every time he smiles. In Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was considered the top in most of his classes. Not Potions though, in which Professor Adrian hated him and his friends with a passion, but favoured all the Slytherines, especially Severus Snape. James was the leader of the group of Marauders, or at least he liked to think so.  
  
Sirius Black was James' best friend since forever, he had raven black hair that fell elegantly into his eyes, naturally tamed, much to James' chagrin. He unlike James, had piercing, ice blue eyes. Sirius was a bright child, regardless of what his friends liked to tell him (author trying not to laugh). He was happily the best in his Astronomy class, Merlin blesses his name he has to be, much to his friends' annoyance. He was the joker in the group, always liked a good laugh.  
  
Remus Lupin was the third Marauder, gentle and caring, with stormy gray eyes and sandy blond hair. He was the rational one in the group, kept them out of a lot of trouble. But don't be fooled by his appearances, his friends knew that beneath the icing of the cake Remus was mischievous as ever, thought up the best pranks in Marauder history. To his misfortune though, he was bitten by a werewolf at a very small age, when his friends found out about his condition, they didn't shun him but instead accepted him readily and became animagus to keep him company when he transformed, well, they also did it to explore the forbidden forest with him.  
  
The last member of the group is one Peter Pettigrew, the quiet one, always following the other three around.

* * *

James was still limping, he could barely stand up, lucky he was in his stag form. He felt much stronger as an animal. He had told Sirius and Peter to take care of the berserk werewolf, poor Remus. so James was left alone trying to find his way through the forest.  
  
He was breathing heavily now, he had lost too much blood, his legs were trembling, he fell to a clearing in the woods. James started to panic, what is he going to do? He's in no condition to change back to human, let alone use magic to help himself, and he doubted Sirius and Peter are coming back any time soon, a werewolf is scarcely something easy to manage.  
  
Slowly he started to pass out, his eyes half closed, the pain was too much to bear.  
  
Suddenly, without any sound or warning, something came out from behind the dense woods and was moving towards him. James couldn't see clearly in the dark, but he could tell it was human. It came closer still, he could tell now that it was a woman, a young woman, but he didn't recognize her.  
  
By now he was pretty sure that he was hallucinating, for the girl was unlike any other he saw. In the moonlight he could make out her long wavy hair flowing down to her slim waist, it was brown maybe, or red, he couldn't be sure, her skin was pale and flawless, she was clad in two pieces of silk-like white cloth, one covering her chest and the other around her curvy hips down to her thighs. She was walking gracefully on her bare feet, James wondered briefly if that was a good way to walk on the rough ground. A soft halo was surrounding her. Maybe she was an angel? Yeah, she must be, James concluded.  
  
Maybe he has died and gone to heaven.  
  
She kneeled in front of him now, still in stag form. Observing him closely, she gently stroked his long neck, and smiled softly at him. Merlin, maybe he was in heaven. She found his wound, murmured something he didn't recognize, and then to his surprise she produced a knife out of thin air, what is she doing? She looked calm still, in her soothing presence. She raised the knife and softly slit her index finger, she didn't even wince. James expected to see red blood flowing out but it was a silver liquid that drop from her fingertip and onto the nasty, bloody opening in his leg. Al of a sudden, he felt a cool, tranquilizing feeling flowing through his leg and then the wound was healing.  
  
She was smiling now.  
  
Suddenly there were sounds coming from the woods, he turned his head slightly to see, must be Sirius and Peter was coming back with Remus, then he realized the sun is starting to rise, Remus should have changed back by now. When he turned his head back, the girl was gone, he didn't even notice. But then he was able to stand up, good as new. So it wasn't a dream?  
  
Who was she?

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A/N: so, how am i doing? should i continue? please review, my life depends on it.


	2. A New Student?

THE UNICORN CHILD  
  
SUMMARY--An abandoned child, raised by unicorns. seeing the world for the first time. A Marauder, prides in his adventures and clever pranks, dragging the day when he'd have to grow up. And then one day--"she look so familiar..."not your typical L/J story.  
  
DISCLAIMER: not mine, not yours, JKR's.

* * *

Chapter 1—A New Student?  
  
Months had passed since the incident in the Forbidden Forest. James had told his friends what happened to him while they were gone. Peter was terrified, saying James must be mental; Remus tried apologizing to James for biting him the way he did, but of course they all told him that it wasn't his fault; and Sirius, well, Sirius attempted to "hug" James and "sobbed" uncontrollably into his shoulder saying how he was going to thank all his lucky stars for keeping his best mate alive, and that he will personally express his gratitude toward the mysterious girl that saved James once he saw her with his own eyes. Sirius also suggested that they play an especially good prank on Snivellus to celebrate James' not dying, then again he just needed a good excuse.  
  
The memory of that night slowly faded from James' mind.

One morning after Christmas break, the Marauders were happily walking down the halls of their huge and beloved school to have breakfast, at least three of them were walking. Sirius was jumping up and down again, trying to get to the Great Hall as fast as possible.  
  
"Stop it Padfoot, you're scaring the first years." Remus reprimanded, though he was trying to keep a straight face at his friend's bizarre actions in the morning.  
  
"But Moony!! It's breakfast!" Sirius whined, as if that explained it all.  
  
James rolled his eyes.  
  
"I saw that, Jamie boy!"  
  
"Don't call be Jamie boy! And I know you saw, what are you going to do about it, Paddie-foot?"  
  
"I'm going to steal your breakfast! That's what!"  
  
"Sirius dear, not everyone's life revolves around breakfast." James was using the tone of talking to a 3 year old again.  
  
Peter just shook his head. (A/N: the little rat!)  
  
Finally the foursome arrived at the Great Hall, Sirius immediately dived for everything that was on the table, this attracted a few stares, as usual.  
  
"Everything's fine, return to your own food." Remus told the gaping onlookers as he gracefully took a seat next to Sirius, "he's just a little hungry." They gave him the "ya-think?" look.  
  
At this moment, Professor McGonagall came walking towards their table in her usual aloof manner.  
  
"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster wishes to see you in his office after breakfast." She told James briskly. "And Mr. Lupin, please find a minute or two to kindly teach Mr. Black some proper table manners." She said looking disgustedly at Sirius wolfing down his food.  
  
"I will try my best, Professor." Remus said flashing her a smile before she turned and left  
  
As James was making his way to Dumbledore's office, he wondered what it was that the Headmaster wanted to talk to him about. He just hoped Professor Adrian hadn't told him about the "frog incident".  
  
In no time James arrived in front of the Gargoyle, and as if on cue, it started moving. James jumped on the stairs and it brought him to the office door.  
  
"Please come in Mr. Potter, you are prompt as always." Came Professor Dumbledore's voice.  
  
He stepped into the office and saw Dumbledore seated at his desk. In front of the desk was two large armchairs with their backs turned to James. Dumbledore was smiling, James took that as a good sign, so he doesn't know about the frog thing, excellent.  
  
"Have a seat James." Dumbledore said, "and no need to worry, you're not in trouble"  
  
Damn he sees through everything.  
  
James gratefully sat down on the armchair Dumbledore pointed at, and for the first time since he stepped into the office he noticed that he wasn't the only one invited here. In the armchair beside his sat a girl.  
  
She looks so familiar...  
  
Where has he seen her before? She was looking right back at him. She's so pretty too. Her hair is such a beautiful red, her eyes are emerald green, her-  
  
"Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore's voice snapped him back to reality, he must've been staring.  
  
"Mr. Potter, this is Miss Lily Evans, a new student." Dumbledore started, a twinkle in his eyes, "she is already sorted into Gryffindor house and will be attending sixth year classes. As you are also in sixth year and a prefect, I trust you to the task of showing Miss Evans to her classes and be her guide around the school so she could get used to it. I'm sure you know Hogwarts _very_ well by now?" Here's that twinkle again, it's uncanny, he seems to know everything.  
  
"Um...sure Professor." James answered, "I – ah- will be glad to show Lily around."  
  
"Excellent! Thank you James. You may show Miss Evans to her classes now." said Dumbledore smiling.  
  
James stood up, followed by Lily, and they left after biding their goodbye.  
  
"So," James broke the silence, they were walking down to their first class, which was Potions, not a good way to start the day. "how do you like Hogwarts so far?"  
  
She seems to be very uncomfortable in her school uniform, trying to loosen her tie.  
  
"Do students here always wear these clothes? They are awfully tight!" she said, it's the first time she's spoken since James met her. She had a nice voice, he thought.  
  
"Ah-yeah, it's our uniform, but it's not required on weekends and holidays." James wondered what she wore in her old school, if she had an old school.  
  
"Are you a transfer student?" he asked.  
  
She seems to be doing some quick thinking. "You could say that." she said vaguely.  
  
"Where are you from then?" James persisted.  
  
"Somewhere far." she said again.  
  
James decided to drop it here, as she didn't seem to like the subject.  
  
"I'm James Potter by the way." he said, "and our first class today is Potions, you gotta watch out for Professor Adrian, he—um—doesn't exactly like Gryffindors."  
  
"Why?" she asked innocently.  
  
"Well," how does he answer this, "you'll see."  
  
Soon they had reached the dungeon classroom, by now the class has already started. And of course Professor Adrian wasn't too happy to be interrupted.  
  
"Potter! Finally decided to grace us with your presence I see," he started, "5 points from Gryffindor for being late-"  
  
"But Dumbledore--"  
  
"Another 5 points for talking back! Now take a seat." James could hear the Slytherins snickering now as he moved towards where his friends were seated. They were all glaring at the Slytherins, Sirius is no doubt thinking a way to get back at them.  
  
Professor Adrian's gaze fell on Lily, and so did everybody else's.  
  
"You must be Miss Evans then?" he asked.  
  
"Yes sir I am." She was looking right back at him, not a trace of fear in her eyes. Instead she was frowning slightly, with distaste. That's a first, James thought. Normally people would find Professor Adrian intimidating. Professor Adrian seemed to notice it too so he told her to find a seat, rather harshly.  
  
She took a seat beside James and he whispered "I told you" to her when the teacher turned his back. She only smiled.  
  
That smile!  
  
He had seen that smile before, but where?

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews, and I know this chapter really sucked, I will do better next time. Next chapter: more about Lily's background 


	3. Lily Evans

THE UNICORN CHILD  
  
SUMMARY--An abandoned child, raised by unicorns. seeing the world for the first time. A Marauder, prides in his adventures and clever pranks, dragging the day when he'd have to grow up. And then one day--"she look so familiar..."not your typical L/J story.  
  
DISCLAIMER: not mine, not yours, JKR's.

* * *

**Chapter 2—Lily**  
  
_Lily's POV._  
  
Lily. Yes, that was her name, though she didn't know it until a couple of months ago....  
  
She was wandering around in the forest as usual, but not too far from her tree house. She had known the forest by heart a long time ago. Every tree, every flower, every bird, every stream...but she had also learned that dangerous creatures reside here.  
  
She couldn't remember how she got here, but she knew that she was very little when she did. The unicorn herd took her in, or rather, saved her. One of them fed her with milk, milk of its own. And she was healthy again, she lived with them, played with the small unicorns, they were her family and she loved every one of them.  
  
Day by day she grew, grew strong, grew beautiful, though she didn't know what beauty was. She built her own tree house, raised her own food, made her own clothes, which in her opinion were just cloths covering where the centaurs told her that needed covering.  
  
The centaurs. Yes, they were her mentors, her teachers, they accepted her, as the unicorns have. They taught her things, things like archery, and hunting; they taught her the ways of humans, their language, and their life; they also taught her about the stars that shine at night, what they do, and what they tell.  
  
They told her that she was a human too, but they told her most humans are bad and that they hope she never have to meet them, for she is too pure, too innocent. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be with her kind, to live like them. She knew there was a castle at the edge of the forest, and there were people in it, people that looked like her. The unicorns didn't like her going to the edge though, neither did the centaurs, but once or twice she couldn't help herself and she sneaked there.  
  
She would hide behind a tree and watch the giant castle in the sunlight, it was so huge, so majestic, she'd see people her age, playing in the lake, talking and laughing with each other. She would wonder again what it'd be like to be a part of that. She knew they were wizards and witches, she knew the castle was magical, and she knew too that she was magical.  
  
Until one day, a wizard came into the forest.  
  
He was talking to the centaurs when she came. She saw that he was quiet old, with long silver hair and beard that reached his waist. He wore half moon glasses and behind those glasses were a pair of twinkling blue eyes.  
  
He was surprised to see her, and asked her what her name was. She told him she didn't know, and that the centaurs called her "The Unicorn Child". He was more surprised. He then asked her birthday, the centaurs told him as they've seen in the stars, because she didn't know that either. After a few minutes the old wizard produced a book from his robes, the book looked worn out. He told her to touch the book, she did, she saw hope in his eyes when he started flipping through each page. Then he seemed to have found what he was looking for, and he was beaming. He showed her. On the page, there was something glowing red, she looked at it.  
  
"Lily Evans."  
  
"Yes. Lily Evans. You are Lily Evans."

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A/N: I know you've lost faith in me already, and im sorry i haven't been updating. I had a crisis for the past couple of months and I hope you'll still review my story. This is a short chapter just giving you an insight on who lily was. More to come! 


	4. Nothing Ordinary

THE UNICORN CHILD

The hell with the disclaimer.

Chapter 3—Nothing Ordinary

James was dreaming. A girl was slowly walking towards him, or was she an angel? She was covered in white, and a soft light was glowing around her. He couldn't see her face, but she was still walking towards him, closer, closer, he reached out and…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH JAMES YOU LAZY ASS OF A STAG WAKE UP!!!!!!!!! WE'LL MISS BREAKFAST!!!!!" and there was the feeling of someone jumping up and down on his bed.

James rolled over and groaned in frustration, he was _just _about to see her face!

"Sirius, what the hell…get _off _me!!" he wondered again why he was best friends with Sirius Black.

"Aw come _on _Prongsie, get _up, _don't make me miss breakfast. You'll regret it later." Sirius said in a tone that was whiny and threatening at the same time, however weird that might sound.

"Alright I'm up I'm up, I hope you know you're the world's lousiest best friend!" James did not want to deal with a breakfast-less Sirius for the whole day though. He knew from experience that it could be _VERY _unpleasant.

Remus and Peter had woken up too by now and are racing their way to the bathroom. Remus won.

"Seriously Padfoot, if breakfast means _that _much to you, when's the wedding date?" James joked trying to find his other sock. "I'm the best man, right?"

"Of course you are Prongs."

James didn't know whether to take that serious or not. You can never tell with Sirius.

Lily was trying to figure out what the knife and fork in front of her was for. Is she supposed to eat these weird looking food in front of her with them? She looked around and indeed people were, so she tried to imitate them, without much success.

All of a sudden someone threw themselves in the seat in front of her, light speed, and started to mount everything there is on the table onto his plate which is now extra full, some of the food is threatening to fall off from it too. Lily remembered the boy as Sirius Black.

She was stunned, mouth open-eyes wide stunned. And Sirius had now started wolfing down his food too; the sight was very scary to say the least.

_No way I'm imitating_ himshe thought.

Lily was still staring when someone propped down next to her.

"Lily? Lily? Anyone home?" it was James, and he was waving a hand in her face.

She snapped out of it. The other two boys, Remus, and Peter, she now noticed, were sitting across from her, snickering.

"Scary isn't it?" said James matter-of-factly, watching Lily.

Lily could only nod.

There were other problems at hand though. She still didn't know how to operate her fork and knife. She was tempted to just grab them with her hands like she usually did with her food, but she had a feeling that she shouldn't.

The four boys seemed to have noticed her hesitation towards her food.

"Something wrong with the bacon, Lily?" Remus asked curiously, "wait, did you lose your appetite because of Sirius?" he added as a second thought.

"Oh no you don't Moony!! My way of eating could only increase one's appetite!" Sirius said indignantly, munching on his third muffin.

"I'm sure it could." James said smirking. Then he turned to Lily: " it takes getting used to, watching him eat."

But Lily shook her head. "No, it's ok, I'm quite hungry actually."

They seemed surprised. "Why aren't you eating then?" Peter asked through a mouthful of toast.

"I…don't know how to use these." Lily answered innocently, raising the knife and fork in her hands.

Sirius choked on his pumpkin juice and started coughing.

"WHAT??" They all shouted at once. People around them are staring in their direction now, wondering what had happened to shock the Marauders.

"Where the hell have you been, child?" Sirius asked after his coughing fit, eyes so wide they looked like a pair of saucers.

"Are you serious?" Remus asked.

"Of course she isn't," Sirius interrupted, "I am."

"Padfoot, we established five years ago that your joke is old." James cut in, and then turned to Lily, ignoring Sirius' "but she hasn't heard it!".

"So, umm…" James started confusedly, trying to find something intelligent to say, "d-did you live in China o-o-or Japan or something? You know, chopsticks?" he finished feeling stupid all of a sudden.

_There's definitely something off about this girl_, he thought. _But her innocence is strangely endearing…and- What the HELL am I thinking?_

"umm…" Lily started, "will you teach me how to use these, James?" She sounded sincere. Her big watery eyes turned to meet his.

For the life of him he couldn't look away,he didn't even want to. There's something about those green pools that made him want to drown in them and never get out.

"James? Are you okay?" he was snapped out of his trance by Lily, still looking at him.

He could hear his so called friends snickering around him.

After sending them his best glare, James turned again to Lily's innocent gaze.

"S-sure Lily." He tried to keep his voice steady.

Lily nodded and smiled brightly at him, causing a funny feeling in his stomach. _Hold yourself together Potter!_

"Okay, hold the fork in your left hand, and the knife in your right." He started. Lily did as he said and waited for him to go on.

"Right. And put the fork down on the egg."

Lily did so. "cut it right there with your knife…no no, not like that". He said when Lily did it wrong.

"Why don't you just show her James? You know, _guide _her hands so she get it right? " said Remus mischievously, "you don't want her to end up like Sirius do you?" That earned a glare from Sirius, but he was too busy eating to say anything, but he did give James a little thumb up

James was sending daggers at his ex-best friends. But Lily didn't seem to think there's anything wrong with what Remus suggested. So she surprised James again by saying "please show me James?", and with those eyes too.

"Yeah…sure Lily." _What a loser Potter, one look from her and you'll do anything. And you don't even know her. Better get your head checked._ He reprimanded himself.

So he put his right hand on top of hers, _wow, so soft and ni—STOP IT! _Then he started moving her hand which had a grip on the knife, then cut the egg successfully. His ex-friends are still snickering. Lily looked up at him with a smile "Thank you James." He grinned and told her it was no problem. _You can let go of her hand now James! **But I don't want to, it feels so good! **God, you sound like some trashy romance novel. _On that note he immediately let go. Luckily Lily didn't seem to notice his strange behaviour and returned to eating quietly.

After Sirius was satisfied with all the food he has devoured, the Marauders said bye to Lily and went to their first class, Muggle Studies. Lily had Charms first.

"So," Sirius started solemnly, "going to ask Lily out James, mate?" The others broke into laughter.

James cannot believe what he was hearing from his so-called friends. "I don't know what you're talking about Padfoot." He said, not meeting Sirius' eyes.

"You're blushing James." Stated Remus matter-of-factly.

"_Oh please show me James?_" Sirius said with a high-pitched voice, rather dramatically, to Remus, trying to imitate Lily, while batting his eyelashes.

"_Anything for you Lily._" Remus exclaimed with a significant gesture.

And they all said "_awwwwwww_", at the same time and started laughing hysterically, drawing stares and leaving a very embarrassed and angry James.

"You'll pay for that!" he threatened. But it didn't seem to have an effect on them.

"Admit it James, you're sweet on her." Peter threw in his two cents.

"Better start wooing her now, mate. That bloke in Ravenclaw was staring at her during breakfast." Sirius said, all business like.

"He was probably staring at you, Sirius, you should see yourself eating." Remus snorted, "I would jump out the window if I were you." That earned a huff from Sirius. "But Padfoot's right James, if you don't woo her now you'll regret it later. She's the prettiest girl here. Before you know it, there'll be a line of blokes asking her out."

"I'm not _wooing _anybody, and she's-Oh stop laughing Sirius!" James whacked Sirius on the head.

_They're all crazy. _James thought. _Why would I woo Lily? **Why wouldn't you?**_

A/N: I know, I know. I haven't updated for the longest time. So feel free to yell at me, flame, anything. I deserve it. I disgust myself. This chapter sounded so very corny, please forgive me. I'll try to do better next time. You can give me some ideas too if you've not completely lost faith in me. Anyway exams are coming up, but I did think of something for next chapter. And no I'm not giving up, even though I don't really see where the story is going. So review if you still love me. (trying my best puppy dog eyes.)


	5. In the Astronomy Tower,god not like that

THE UNICORN CHILD 

Disclaimer: of course I don't own any of JKR's characters. Gee.

Chapter 4—In The Astronomy Tower (God, no, not what you're thinking.)

James couldn't sleep. It's been a rather long day, what with all the homework he's getting and Professor Adrian blew up at him again for trying to curse Snape while he wasn't looking. And he's having that dream again, but every time he was about to see her face he wakes up, this time it was by Peter's snoring. Damn that kid snores like the thunder.

So now he can't go back to sleep, not with everything on his mind. James decided that a nice stroll around the castle ought to clear his head somewhat. It's Friday anyway. Maybe he could go to the Astronomy Tower, it's always nice there with the stars and all. Just hope it's not already "occupied". He'll never forget what he saw during one of his night strolls.

Not _that_ much was on his mind actually. Just Lily. _How pathetic. _He scowled himself.

Ever since Lily came to Hogwarts he'd been having strange thoughts. And he was very, very curious about her. She's uncommonly innocent, unlike any other girl in their year. At times she might seem naïve, like in Potions today, when she asked Lucius Malfoy rather politely why he picks on the first years. But there is something about her that unsoundly demands respect. A shocker was that Professor Adrian seems to be afraid of her. She always stands up to him, but she does so in the tone of discussing the weather. And she never does it out of anger, it's like she's telling him rather sincerely what he did was not nice and trying to convince him to be a better person. People laughed at that but James loved it.

_There we go again, it's always Lily this, Lily that. She's only been here for two weeks and you've been **thinking **about her for two weeks. Get a grip! _

Before James knew it, his feet have already carried him to the entrance of the tower. He waited to see if he could hear anybody talking inside. No. It's safe to go in.

He wasn't prepared, however, to see Lily Evans stretched out on her back with her hands behind her head, staring up at the stars in the sky. The loose strands of her auburn hair would occasionally sway around her face by the breeze. A tiny smile was on her face and…and… He's never seen a sight so beautiful.

Before he could do anything, she turned her head and looked at him. Their eyes met in the dimming light.

Suddenly it's hard to breathe. He could feel his heart pounding in his ear. His cheeks started burning, and the flip-flopping in his stomach is out of control. He felt light headed and his feet seemed to be rooted on the spot. God it almost felt like a sin to look at her. In the moonlight she resembled an angel, his angel, sent from the heavens. He felt shy now, and wondered if Lily could see how red his face was.

"James!" she called brightly, "nice to see you here!" _Good, she didn't seem to notice anything._

"H-Hi Lily." _Get your act together Potter!_

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked with mild interest.

"I –uh- couldn't…" _for God's sakes I thought you're supposed to be witty and smart, so why don't you say something intelligent with more than one syllable _"I couldn't sleep." _Pitiful. _And of course he didn't tell her the cause for his sleeplessness was mainly her.

"Come sit with me then." By now she was sitting up and patting the floor next to her, inviting him with a genuine smile on her face. James obligingly went over to her and sat down, Indian style.

Lily turned her head towards the sky again without speaking. After watching her for just another minute, James followed her gaze and found himself looking at a clear sky, so clear that the stars seemed to be a lot more closer to the ground than he remembered.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Lily said in a whisper without looking at him.

"Yeah…" then James turned his eyes to her again, taking in her face still looking up at the stars, her eyes so peaceful, her lips so full, and the cute little freckles dusted across her nose…. "Beautiful…" he whispered involuntarily.

"I use to learn about them, the stars, what they tell, about the past and the future." Lily said. "but I'm not good at it."

"It always amazed me that some of the stars we see now might no longer exist. We are just looking at the light they emitted years and years ago." James told her, getting more comfortable in her presence.

"Yes, their light lives on, for years, and years, and years."

"Sirius is pretty good at Astronomy." James said, remembering his best friends obsession with stars and constellations.

"The one who eats six servings every morning?" Lily grinned at him.

"He's the one." James laughed too.

"Sirius. Sirius is one of Orion's hunting dogs!" Lily said brightly, pointing at a constellation in the sky. "In Canis Major. It's the brightest star in the night sky!" (A/N: this is actually accurate information, although I don't think you could see the Dog Star that easily in the fall where this story is currently taking place, I think.)

"Yeah, he _is_ like a dog." James said, thinking about Sirius' animagus form. "His family must have a thing for stars. He has a brother called Regulus and a cousin called Bellatrix."

(A/N: in case you're wondering which you probably aren't, or you already know this stuff, but Bellatrix is a star in the constellation Orion--the hunter, and Regulus is the main star in Leo the lion. I'm just a _little bit _obsessed with astronomy. Anyways on with the story.)

"He's your best friend?" it wasn't really a question.

"Yup, has been since I can remember. But Remus and Peter are also my best friends." _**James, you're sitting in the astronomy tower next to a fallen angel and you're talking about Sirius and your other friends. Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you? **Oh shut up, I'm enjoying myself._

"Your friend Remus, he's a werewolf isn't he?" Lily asked simply.

That knocked James off his rocker. "Wha-what? How do you know?!!" _How **did **she know? Merlin this is **not **normal!_

"I sensed it was him, I've seen his wolf in the forbid… no never mind." She caught herself just before she said _too_ much. But James caught on.

"What??!!?? You've _seen _him????" _something's off here. _James thought. "but the last full moon was before you came!" _yes something's **majorly** off about her. And in the times we talked she never really said anything about her past except she learned about the stars. First she couldn't operate eating utensils and now this._

"I can't tell you everything now James, but you can be sure that his secret is safe with me. I honestly think Remus is a good person." Lily said quickly wishing James could drop the subject.

"Ok Lily. But you can trust me. Really." James said solemnly looking straight into her eyes. _God, please let her trust me. _"and promise me you'll tell me when you're ready?"

"I promise."

* * *

A/N: I've tried making my chapters longer but it's just not coming to me. Anyways here's chapter 4. Reviews are very much appreciated. and Merry Christmas everybody!!! Sad that my family dont celebrate Christmas, so the only present i'm likely going to get is your reviews. yes i'm throwing myself a pity party. well at least i have time in the holidays to write chapter 5. 

_PammaPoo_–Thanks for the idea! I like it a lot, might use it in the next chapter!

_GSCer__ –_Just wanted you to know that it's your first review that prompted me to update and got me off my ass to start working. Thanks.


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